Railway-track clearer



(No Model.) I

G. ROYAL.

RAILWAY TRACK GLEA'RER.

N0. 287,583. Patented Oct. 30, 1883.

" IIYYENTOR:

I ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. Photo-Lithographer. Wnhin tm. D.C.

UNITED STATES j PATENT OFFIC GEORGE ROYAL, OFDAVENPORT, IOWA.

RAILWAY-TRACK CLjEARER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,583, dated October20, 1883.

Application filed April 27, 1883. (N model.)

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE ROYAL, of Davenport, in the county of Scottand State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Track Clearers, of which the following is a full, .clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to devices for clearing railway-tracks. ofaccumulations of hard snow, ice, or earth that may have packed againstthe inner or wheel-flange sides of the rails, the object of the presentimprovement being to provide a simpler and more effective arrangement ofthe parts of the clearerthan is shown in previous United States Patentsgranted to me for improvements in this class of inventions, as follows:No. 198,468, dated December 25, 1877, No. 203,377, dated May 7, 1878,and No. 204,092, dated May 21, 1878, the present improvement providingfor a free lateral movement of the vertically adjustable clearerknifeframe, which is supported from hangers directly back of the rearpilot-wheels of an engine, and connected by sway-bars, preferably withthe engine-frame, and by a pin and socket with the truck frame of thepilotwheels, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is'to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a locomotive in part with my improvement applied;Fig. 2, a crosssectional elevation on line w as of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 aplan view.

- a represents the locomotive-boiler, 1) its frame, c the forwarddrive-wheels, and d the rear wheels of the pilot or forward truck of theengine, which parts may be of any approved construction.

To any suitable bar, 0, fixed to the frame I) transversely, I hang, byeyebolts f and connected bars or links g, theknife-carrying plate or barh, which has the knives or I clearers proper, t, fitted to slidevertically in suitable ways or guides, j, formed in or on the ends ofthe plate It at a backward and outward incline fromthe front of saidplate, and so that .the'

knives '11 maybe lowered inside and below the head-surface of the railsk, as will appear from arms m of a rock-shaft, n, j ournaled on frame.

I), and the rod 0 with any suitable lever or other contrivance withinthe cab of the enmultaneously raising or lowering the knives?) at bothsides of the track at will when cross- 'ing tracks, frogs, or switches.Sway-bars 1) (here shown as pivoted to the engine-frame at q) permitfree lateral play of the lower ends of the bars, where they have likepivotal connec tion with-the plate h or its guidesj just back of andabout at the center. of the knives or clearers t. otal connections atboth ends are of a substantial character to resist the thrust of theclearerknives 2' when at work. A guide pin or bar, r, firmly fixed tothe engine truck-frame 8, enters a hole, It, in the center of theknife-holding plate h, which compels the plate, with its knives i,toalways closely follow the wheels of the pilot and guide the knives orclearers t properly against the material to be removed from the insideof the rails, the pivotal connections of the bars 10 with the frame I)and plate It permitting a free lateral swinging of the body of theengine while rounding curves in either direction, while firmlysupporting the clearers 5 without lateral strains or friction when thecutters are at work, and also allows the cutters to be set to the fullwidth of the gage of the track to work closely to the inside of therails. By setting the knife-guides and knives j t at the outward andbackward inclination shown, they are less liable to catch on joints orfish-plates of the track or rails is in moving rapidly forward than ifset directly at right angles with the rails and in line with the maincentral portion of plate h, and this inclined position of the knivesgives them increasedstrength, and tends also to throw the snow, ice, orother obstructing'matters away from the rails, and the backward inclineof the knives permits them to glance or slide off when-meeting badjoints of the rails or loose fish-plates or bolts, thereby avoidingserious injury to the clearing-knives and their connections.

I arrangesuitable brushes,u, to be vertically adjustable by theirhandles 1; in eyes or gine, to be operated easily therefrom, and si-These sway-bars p and their piv- IOO sockets in of arms :0, which arefixed suitably to the plate h, set-screws 3 being provided to fix thebrushes to the arms 00 at thedesired height for perfectly cleaning therails for the driving-wheels.

It is evident that the plate 7:,with the cutters or knives i, andbrushes u can be attached to or suspended from the truck-frame s; butthe above-described construction is preferred.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The combination, with the plate It, carrying'vertically-movable knife-clearers i, and suspended near the wheels (Z,of the sway-bars 1), pivoted to plate h, and the g11ide-1)i11r,iixe(l tothe truck of wheels (I, and entering an aperture of plate 71,substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, withthe plate 71, carrying VCIHCZLHYJIIOXZIDIOkuil'e-elearers i, and

suspended near the wheels (Z, of the pivoted sway-bars p, the guide-pine, and the eonnecj, of the vertically-sliding clearer-knives t at I likeinclination to the rails, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with the clearer-plate h, having its ends inclinedbackward toward the inside of the rails, and provided with ways j, ofthe vertically-sliding clearer-knives i, at like inclination totherails,andbrnshes u, substantially as shown and described.

GEO. ROYAL.

Witnesses:

PATRICK O. BRYAN, GEORGE W. SHOEMAKER.

